Police: 70-Year-Old Man Crashes Into E. Farmingdale Panera While Fleeing Hit-And-Run

An unlicensed 70-year-old driver crashed into the storefront of the East Farmingdale Panera Thursday while fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run, leaving two women seriously hurt, authorities said.

The man, who has not yet been identified, reportedly struck a car in a nearby parking lot and sped off before smashing into the restaurant on Route 110 in the Republic Plaza shopping center at about 10:20 a.m., police said.

The vehicle was embedded 15-feet inside the sandwich chain, NBC New York reports.

“First we were working and then all of a sudden you hear, ‘Boom, boom boom,’ and then you see the walls are collapsing,” a Panera employee told NBC.

Two women inside were seriously injured, one of whom was pinned under the vehicle and then airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital.

The driver and his female passenger were taken to NUMC for minor injuries, police said.

Charges are pending against the driver.

Sign up for your local Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts here

More on Patch:

• Man Charged in Fatal Coram Hit-and-Run
• Police Seek Help to Find Man Who Stole Donation Jar in Lindenhurst
• Decorated D-Day Veteran Honored in Mineola
• Cops Charge 4 in Nearby Undercover Heroin Sting
• Police: Man Assaulted Woman After They Exited Same Train in Sayville
• Poll: Do You Support a New Restaurant Along the Patchogue River?
• Cops Seek Man Who Attempted to Rob North New Hyde Park Bank